Believe

 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

Matthew 21:22

 
God is an awesome God. :) And I believe He has been challenging me in an incredibly awesome way this week with some of these simple questions...

Do you have faith?
Are you ready for God's blessing?
Do you really believe that he can and will do what He says?
Do you seriously understand that God can do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think?
(eph 3:20)

"Yep." I would say to myself to all those questions.
But here's the interesting question:
"How do you know if you believe?
By action, or works. (James 2)
So by me not preparing for God's blessing, and expecting Him to do it, that exposes my lack of faith.

Eric Ludy, talks about this, in this 7.5 minute video... it's extremely impacting, and inspiring. The Spirit is Willing 

God has been stirring me like CRAZY this week, and is showing me how little my faith is.
And the faith of so many Christians, for that matter.

Why is that?

This passage of God's Word was extra confirmation for what I thought God was telling me. (I'm so thankful that He gave us a book to hear Him!)
After Jesus said unto the fig tree in Matthew 21:18-19 "Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever." and the fig tree withered right there in front of Jesus and all His disciples, the disciples were shocked.

I think if Jesus was here today, and He gave a command to a tree, and it dried up or wasted away right in front of us, most of us would be shocked too, right?

But Jesus' response to their amazement is the incredible thing, found in verse 21, "Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done. 22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

Can you imagine this entire tree just withering after a person speaks just 9 words? Wow!

Note this word: "Believing."
It's vital.
The Lesson that God is teaching me, is that I need to learn to increase my belief, and ask God to help me in my unbelief.

Think about it...
When praying for the salvation of a friend, family member, co-worker, or neighbor,
Do you believe that they will be saved?
Imagine them being an ambassador for Christ, proclaiming His name boldly, and unashamed.
Isn't that an awesome picture?

God bless you all this week! :)
Your bro in Christ,
Landon


Recommendation of the Week
Charlie Campbell, part 2 of last week's recommendation about evangelizing. Go here, and then click "Are You Afraid to Share the Gospel?"